Singing Along the Journey

art

With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

Grief and joy too personal for words…

If you have a minute, I would like to tell you a story.  It is my story to tell, and, I thought that I had told it.  But we cannot tell what we ourselves do not understand, even though we are in the midst of living it, no matter how many words we use. Let me begin with the punchline.  Healing, my friends, is not over when our bodies have knit themselves together after an accident or a treatment of some kind.  Healing may be the most powerful word-metaphor for the whole human condition, because, after all, isn't that really what most of us seek with each and every breath?…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Wait, is it already Advent?

Yes, I admit it.  I am behind.  Travelling will do that to me.  The end of the semester will do that to me.  Preparing for a concert where I am singing something totally new (like I am next week) pushes all sense of time and season out of the way.  Today, however, I decided to face the truth -- Advent has begun without me. And so, while I am busy getting my act together, I convinced myself that one good Advent devotional activity would be to go back and read some of the things that I myself wrote in years past during this season.  I hope you will not mind…
Read More

Listen carefully…

I am a person inspired by tradition.  My original academic training was all about tradition - first I studied medieval history and then ancient history and then archaeology.  I worked as a librarian, preserving the written works and the documents that make up our cultural tradition.  I studied classical music and worked as a recitalist and an opera singer:  again, an art dependent on and preserving of tradition (with apologies to my friends who are living composers).  And now what do I do?  I attend seminary, studying and learning about what many consider to be the most tradition-bound subject of all -- church, and yes, even GOD. Tradition, continuity with…
Read More

With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

Grief and joy too personal for words…

If you have a minute, I would like to tell you a story.  It is my story to tell, and, I thought that I had told it.  But we cannot tell what we ourselves do not understand, even though we are in the midst of living it, no matter how many words we use. Let me begin with the punchline.  Healing, my friends, is not over when our bodies have knit themselves together after an accident or a treatment of some kind.  Healing may be the most powerful word-metaphor for the whole human condition, because, after all, isn't that really what most of us seek with each and every breath?…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Wait, is it already Advent?

Yes, I admit it.  I am behind.  Travelling will do that to me.  The end of the semester will do that to me.  Preparing for a concert where I am singing something totally new (like I am next week) pushes all sense of time and season out of the way.  Today, however, I decided to face the truth -- Advent has begun without me. And so, while I am busy getting my act together, I convinced myself that one good Advent devotional activity would be to go back and read some of the things that I myself wrote in years past during this season.  I hope you will not mind…
Read More

Listen carefully…

I am a person inspired by tradition.  My original academic training was all about tradition - first I studied medieval history and then ancient history and then archaeology.  I worked as a librarian, preserving the written works and the documents that make up our cultural tradition.  I studied classical music and worked as a recitalist and an opera singer:  again, an art dependent on and preserving of tradition (with apologies to my friends who are living composers).  And now what do I do?  I attend seminary, studying and learning about what many consider to be the most tradition-bound subject of all -- church, and yes, even GOD. Tradition, continuity with…
Read More

With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

Grief and joy too personal for words…

If you have a minute, I would like to tell you a story.  It is my story to tell, and, I thought that I had told it.  But we cannot tell what we ourselves do not understand, even though we are in the midst of living it, no matter how many words we use. Let me begin with the punchline.  Healing, my friends, is not over when our bodies have knit themselves together after an accident or a treatment of some kind.  Healing may be the most powerful word-metaphor for the whole human condition, because, after all, isn't that really what most of us seek with each and every breath?…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Wait, is it already Advent?

Yes, I admit it.  I am behind.  Travelling will do that to me.  The end of the semester will do that to me.  Preparing for a concert where I am singing something totally new (like I am next week) pushes all sense of time and season out of the way.  Today, however, I decided to face the truth -- Advent has begun without me. And so, while I am busy getting my act together, I convinced myself that one good Advent devotional activity would be to go back and read some of the things that I myself wrote in years past during this season.  I hope you will not mind…
Read More

Listen carefully…

I am a person inspired by tradition.  My original academic training was all about tradition - first I studied medieval history and then ancient history and then archaeology.  I worked as a librarian, preserving the written works and the documents that make up our cultural tradition.  I studied classical music and worked as a recitalist and an opera singer:  again, an art dependent on and preserving of tradition (with apologies to my friends who are living composers).  And now what do I do?  I attend seminary, studying and learning about what many consider to be the most tradition-bound subject of all -- church, and yes, even GOD. Tradition, continuity with…
Read More

With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

Grief and joy too personal for words…

If you have a minute, I would like to tell you a story.  It is my story to tell, and, I thought that I had told it.  But we cannot tell what we ourselves do not understand, even though we are in the midst of living it, no matter how many words we use. Let me begin with the punchline.  Healing, my friends, is not over when our bodies have knit themselves together after an accident or a treatment of some kind.  Healing may be the most powerful word-metaphor for the whole human condition, because, after all, isn't that really what most of us seek with each and every breath?…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Wait, is it already Advent?

Yes, I admit it.  I am behind.  Travelling will do that to me.  The end of the semester will do that to me.  Preparing for a concert where I am singing something totally new (like I am next week) pushes all sense of time and season out of the way.  Today, however, I decided to face the truth -- Advent has begun without me. And so, while I am busy getting my act together, I convinced myself that one good Advent devotional activity would be to go back and read some of the things that I myself wrote in years past during this season.  I hope you will not mind…
Read More

Listen carefully…

I am a person inspired by tradition.  My original academic training was all about tradition - first I studied medieval history and then ancient history and then archaeology.  I worked as a librarian, preserving the written works and the documents that make up our cultural tradition.  I studied classical music and worked as a recitalist and an opera singer:  again, an art dependent on and preserving of tradition (with apologies to my friends who are living composers).  And now what do I do?  I attend seminary, studying and learning about what many consider to be the most tradition-bound subject of all -- church, and yes, even GOD. Tradition, continuity with…
Read More

With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

Grief and joy too personal for words…

If you have a minute, I would like to tell you a story.  It is my story to tell, and, I thought that I had told it.  But we cannot tell what we ourselves do not understand, even though we are in the midst of living it, no matter how many words we use. Let me begin with the punchline.  Healing, my friends, is not over when our bodies have knit themselves together after an accident or a treatment of some kind.  Healing may be the most powerful word-metaphor for the whole human condition, because, after all, isn't that really what most of us seek with each and every breath?…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Wait, is it already Advent?

Yes, I admit it.  I am behind.  Travelling will do that to me.  The end of the semester will do that to me.  Preparing for a concert where I am singing something totally new (like I am next week) pushes all sense of time and season out of the way.  Today, however, I decided to face the truth -- Advent has begun without me. And so, while I am busy getting my act together, I convinced myself that one good Advent devotional activity would be to go back and read some of the things that I myself wrote in years past during this season.  I hope you will not mind…
Read More

Listen carefully…

I am a person inspired by tradition.  My original academic training was all about tradition - first I studied medieval history and then ancient history and then archaeology.  I worked as a librarian, preserving the written works and the documents that make up our cultural tradition.  I studied classical music and worked as a recitalist and an opera singer:  again, an art dependent on and preserving of tradition (with apologies to my friends who are living composers).  And now what do I do?  I attend seminary, studying and learning about what many consider to be the most tradition-bound subject of all -- church, and yes, even GOD. Tradition, continuity with…
Read More